


Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

by TG_StarlightChronicles



Series: Starlight Chronicles [4]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:03:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27399199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TG_StarlightChronicles/pseuds/TG_StarlightChronicles
Summary: Shortly after Admiral Fujita Diru suffers a great trauma, the Starlight is sent on a mission to negotiate a first contact treaty with the recently discovered planet of the Pulusi'Po. While the crew of the Starlight it worried about its captain, Fujita welcomes the Pulusi'Po on her ship. With the negotiations only just starting, Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix disappears and Fujita sets out to find her, breaking Pulusi'Po law all the while. Matters worsen when more people disappear and Fujita takes matters into her own hands, finding out the truth about the people she welcomed onto her ship.
Relationships: Fujita Diru/James Kirk
Series: Starlight Chronicles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000692
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not to just tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. If we cannot learn to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there”
> 
> ~ Gene Roddenberry 
> 
> This work is still in progress, the current text is only the first draft.

WIND GUSHED OVER THE edge of the ravine, falling into the mist beneath and breaking it apart into a whirlwind. The stream carried the cries of wildlife, the smell of pine and citrus, the vision of lands close-by and far, far away. Blueness reached out everywhere, a veil of mist covering the contours of the mountains in the distance. Birds flew overhead, dark red and blue spots tainting the sky.

In the middle of all that beauty stood a young man, his arms outstretched and his body bended forward by the force of the wind. Long white robes danced around his feet. As they were tossed around by the playful wind, thoughts dangled in his bright mind. Thoughts of tomorrows far gone and yesterdays yet to come. Thoughts of happiness and sorrow. Thoughts of new and old, hope and loss, an entire life dreamt up in one dear moment. The song of birds all around joined the orchestra in the man’s head.

A hand reached forward through the mist, reaching for the man’s shoulder. It grabbed him tightly, long and slender grey fingers piercing through the grey scales of skin. The gesture was encouraging. Or forceful. But the young man did not wince, did not feel pain. He only felt the determination.

Slowly, he took a step forward, his bare, webbed toes at the edge of the ravine. Tiny rocks and lumps of dirt fell down where his feet touched the ground. The man took one more breath, his face calm ad emotionless. Then, without a moment of hesitation, he let the wind catch him and carry him away. It bend him forward, his face over the edge of the ravine, now facing downward toward the mist below. As his feet came loose from the ground, the mist came closer, the wind rushing past his slim body. Down he fell, into the darkness.

\---

With fire all around, Fujita hit her chest with clenched first and spreads her arms wide open. She looked at the barrel of the gun that is pointed at her, just some ten meters away from her. Her eyes burned with defiance, her teeth clenched and her face contoured into a look of anger and contempt.

Her ears were filled with screams of pain and fear, but Fujita had no trouble raising her voice louder than any of them. This was her place. This was her fight. This was it.

“I’ve got nothing to lose!”

Anderson ran forward, his breath staggered from exhaustion and fear, his hand reaching for Fujita’s. If only he would be on time. He pulled her arm toward him as he heard the shots fire, her body followed, suddenly all the strength gone from it. Then she fell into his arms, and the both of them fell onto the ground.


	2. I

ANDERSON TOOK A SIP of his tea. His right hand was resting around a bowl of delicious white chocolate mousse, with the left he picked up a padd as he put his cup back down. Opened on the padd was a duty roster that the Commander had to review before the end of the day.

“Hey, Chris,” a voice sounded near Anderson, and the officer looked up.

“This place free?” Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix asked.

“Free as a bird.”

Aridiya chuckled. _Anderson and his weird analogies._

Anderson finished the last sentence of the roster and put down his padd. “Well, what’s going on with you today, miss?”

“Oh, nothing much. Lieutenant Qinanatha got some weird readings today and we couldn’t really figure out what they were, but when Q’Ara came in to check some cabling, we found the readings were actually just a glitch. Some circuits came loose and interfered with the nano-imaging scanners. It was kinda interesting, though.”

“It sounds like it.”

Neriouix rested her face in her hands and yawned. “Stars, I’m tired. I had to get up at 4 because the Juniors messed something up. Again.” She looked up. “You know, I really understand the Captain’s decision to get so many young officers on – being able to shape them yourself and all – but, man, are they _tiring_ sometime.”

Anderson laughed. “They sure are. When you talk about it that way, I’m glad I don’t get to work with the junior officers much. I much prefer Diru’s presence.”

The Trill woman leaned forward toward her friend. Lowering her voice, she asked, “How is the Captain?”

“Not speaking,” Anderson sighed.

Neriouix shook her head. “Why does she have to be so damned stubborn.”

“She wouldn’t be our Captain if she weren’t.”

Still shaking her head, Neriouix looked across the room. “I’m worried about her, you know.”

“She’s been through worse.”

“Still! No one should face something like this alone. She lost her _daughter_. I wish I couldn’t say I know what that feels like, But Neriouix does.” The Lieutenant referred to the symbiont she was joined with. “She’s just not letting anyone in.”

Anderson leaned backwards in his chair, his hands raised in a defensive guesture. “Hey, miss, I’m not arguing with you.”

“You know her better than me.” Neriouix fumbled with her hands as she looked her friend into his eyes. “Isn’t there any way we can help her?”

I just try to be with her as much as she lets me. She might not say it, but I know she appreciates my presence.”

“I wish she’d just go to Jastre.”

Anderson scoffed. “You _are_ aware who we are talking about, right? We’d have to kill her before he’d step into the office of a counsellor.”

Neriouix sighed.

The pair fell silent for a moment, both sunken into their own thoughts. Absentmindedly, Anderson picked up his cup and drunk the last of his tea, which had gone cold by now. Neriouix reached for his chocolate mousse and finished it herself.

After a minute, Neriouix looked up from the now empty bowl. “I’ve got an old movie lying around my quarters, and it can’t wait to be watched,” she said.

“Maybe we should give it that pleasure, then.”

Both officers got up at the same time, grinning. They left the Square, waving at Kenna as they did, and walked the decks to Neriouix’s quarters.

\---

Fujita looked out into space though the big window in her quarters. She watched as streaky stars rushed by and the _Starlight_ left behind star system after star system. But Fujita did not think about the systems that she passed. Her mind was a t her job and the hundreds of task she should be doing right now. Yet she wasn’t doing ay of them. Right now, she was just watching the stars through her window.

 _Get moving_ , a voice in the Admiral’s head said, nonetheless. Fujita sighed. “You’re right,” she muttered to herself. After gathering up enough energy, she turned around and walked over to the messy desk in the other room. On it, a pile of padds had gathered. Reports and duty rosters, mission requests and communiques from Starfleet Command. Fujita was days behind on her work, but lately she had been unable to get herself to do much. Now, she realised she had no choice. Anderson had been asking for the report on the battle at Kthonth all week, Fujita had run bout of excuses. So, she sat down and searched through the pile until she found the right padd. Then she started writing, and she promised herself that she would not stop until it was finished.

That promise was broken by the chirping of her communicator station after only half an hour, however. Fujita put aside her half-written report and turned toward the computer. The machine displayed the logo of Starfleet Command in right blue. A familiar name read on the screen underneath the logo: CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER. Fujita pushed a button on the system’s controls, and the face of her old friend appeared.

“Fujita! It’s so good to see you!” Riker exclaimed, a broad smile on his face.

Fujita could not help but smile as well. “Will.”

“How are you doing?” Will asked.

Fujita dodged the question. “Why are you calling?”

Riker sighed. “We haven’t spoken in, what, a year at least, and you can’t just have a little bit of small talk?”

“You know me.”

The Captain recollected himself and decided to come to the point. “Right.” He looked at something in front of his screen, presumably a report of some sort. “Do you remember old man Keeron?”

“That man that almost ruined our first contact with the Senit? Yes I do, is he still out ‘discovering’ new species on his own?”

“I’m afraid he is,” Riker nodded.

Fujita shook her head. “there is a reason he got fired form Starfleet, why doesn’t he just accept that? He’s putting lives in danger.”

Riker gave an acknowledging look.

“What did he do this time?”

“About five months ago, the _Pulsar_ discovered an M-class planet in the Spiro sector. They expected it was inhabited by intelligent life, but when they wanted to enter the system, they were stopped by Keeron. He claimed to have found the planet first and said he had made first contact. Of course, Captain Mhor did not believe him – it’s not the first time that old man had been spreading lies about his ‘record’. But when the _Pulsar_ got closer to the planet, Keeron’s ship was destroyed by a defensive satellite in orbit around the planet. It turned out the inhabitants of the planet – they call themselves Pulusi’po – thought Keeron had pissed of some god, and now they’re mad at the Federation. Mhor has been working overtime to get into the good grace of the Pulusi’po, just so they can even _start_ negotiations. Not the Pulusi’po say they’re not mad anymore, but they won’t talk with Mhor any longer because he isn’t ‘righteous.’”

“And now you want me to go here to continue these talks?”

“Yes.”

“Because I am more ‘righteous’ than Mhor?” Fujita playfully lifted an eyebrow.

Riker laughed. “Sometimes.”

The Admiral answered her friend’s laugh with a short smile, then frowned. “Why are you asking me this, and not someone from Starfleet Command?”

Riker waved away the question with a gesture of his hand. “Deanna and I are on a short holiday away from the _Titan_ , we’re visiting my dad with Thad. I had to deliver a message at HQ and I overheard that the Admirals wanted to give you this mission, I said I were willing to contact you.”

Fujita pursed her lips. “Are you checking up on me?”

“Deanna and I are worried about you, Fujs. We all are, you’ve been through hell these past months.” Riker’s eyes lit up with concern.

“Stop talking,” Fujita said darkly, “or I’ll end this call.”

Riker lifted his hands in an appeasing gesture. “All right, I’m sorry for _caring_ about you.”

The Admiral stared at her friend for a minute longer, which forced him to drop the subject and continue. “So can you take the mission?”

“Sure,” Fujita nodded.

“Very well, thanks. Well, I suppose I’ll see you around,” Riker said his goodbyes. As he reached for the controls to end the call, he changed his mind and looked back up at the screen. “Hang in there, Fujita,” he said.

Fujita ended the call and walked toward the doors of her quarter. Negotiating first contact with an angry civilization was not her favourite job, but it was better than patrolling the Romulan Neural Zone, where some unrest had arisen after the news that the Romulan sun would soon go supernova.

\---

“OW! Stop it!” Neriouix giggled as Anderson playfully came at her with a pillow.

Anderson dropped the pillow and decided to go for a different strategy instead, now diving onto Neriouix to tickle her. Neriouix laughed and tried to push her friend away. “Stop it!” she yelled again, but even less convincing than the last time.

The film session had turned into a playful fight, with Anderson getting back at Neriouix after she mocked one of his recent inventions – a replicator shaped as a toaster, giving off a better “vibe”, according to Anderson. Neriouix believed no one would use it, but had found the design very cute nonetheless.

“Just admit it, miss,” Anderson said after Neriouix had cought her breath, “you would rather have breakfast be made by toaster than from a replicator as well. And it you don’t need real supplements, just energy.”

“Well.. maybe you’re right,” the Lieutenant admitted. “But did you at least improve the toast recipe? This ship has, like, the worst toast I ever tasted.”

Anderson laughed. “That’s a project for tomorrow, Lieutenant.”

As Anderson got up to refill their drinks, the doors from his quarters chimed. The Commander quickly put down the glasses and said “Come in”, walking to the doors himself at the same time.

The doors slid open and revealed the face of Admiral Fujita Diru.

“Captain!” Anderson said. “What brings you here on this fine evening?”

Fujita scanned the room, and her eyes fell on Neriouix. The Trill chimed a greeting, and Fujita nodded in response. “Am I interrupting?”

“Not at all!” Anderson explaimed, gesturing for his captain to enter the room. Fujita took up on his offer and walked over to the couch, where Neriouix made space for her to sit.

Anderson followed his captain. “Is anything the matter, sir?”

Fujita shook her head. “I just got a message from Captain Riker, we’re to conduct first contact negotiations with the Pulusi’Po.”

“The who?”

Fujita turned to her Chief Science Officer. “They’re a species from the Stiro sector who recently developed faster than light travel.” Turning back toward her first officer, she continued: “The _Pulsar_ contacted the planet a few weeks ago, but the negotiations didn’t go very well. The Pulusi’po asked to speak with someone else, and Starfleet Command wants us to go.”

Anderson took a moment to think, then asked: “What went wrong? And why do they think we would do any better? We’re not exactly known for our diplomatic excellency”

Fujita shrugged. “I don’t know the specifics about why they chose us, but the Pulusi’po had the bad luck of meeting Keeron–”

“Oh no, not that bastard!” Neriouix exclaimed, interrupting Fujita. “Sorry,” she muttered as she received a raised eyebrow from both of her officers.

“Well, she’s not wrong,” admitted Anderson after a moment.

Fujita chuckled. “Keeron managed to anger the Pulusi’Po–”

“Surprising.”

The Human woman threw another look at Neriouix, whose dark skin turned even a tone darker. Then she shook her head with a soft laugh. “That man’s just such an idiot.”

Now it was Anderson’s and Neriouix’s turn to look surprised.

“Being a captain– an admiral doesn’t mean I can’t insult people. I can very well, because they can’t do anything about it,” the Admiral said with a raised eyebrow and a hint of pleasure in her tone. “But in all seriousness. He did something that was against their religion, and the captain from the _Pulsar_ , Mhor, tried to set things right but the Pulusi’po won’t talk to him. They say their issues isn’t with the federation, though, they just associate Mhor with Keeron. They’re willing to give us a chance.”

“They sound like volatile people,” Andderson remarked.

Fujita acknowledged her second in command. “I’m guessing you’re not wring. But we’ve gotta give these people a chance.”

Anderson nodded. “Well, sir, let’s go.”


	3. II

THREE DAYS LATER, THEY arrived at MR-5-300-S, the planet of the Pulusi’Po. Fujita was seated in her chair on the bridge, watching the blue-green orb on the viewing screen grow bigger. Around her, her officers buzzed, each of them making sure they would arrive at the planet safely. Lieutenant-Commander Jasaiax was bent over her station, entering commands into the helm controls. At Fujita’s right, Neriouix was scanning the planet in front of them for any abnormal energy readings, and B.J. ws doing the same for security.

“We’re being hailed,” Faizan Tremeni said when the _Starlight_ entered communication’s range.

“On screen.”

“It’s an audio message only, sir.”

Fujita nodded, and after a few seconds, a voice sounded over the bridge’s intercoms. As the universal translators turned on, Fujita understood what was being said to her.

“Welcome in our space, highest leader. These are the secret grounds of the Pulusi’po, children of the gods of Grecito. We order you to stand down, and will be sending a ship with a delegation of our most important men to you shortly.”

As Fujita opened her mouth to answer, the call ended. The Admiral looked at her first officer who was seated on her left and raised an eyebrow. “That was… interesting.”

Anderson acknowledged her, and then turned around to Tremeni and ordered him to prepare a welcoming delegate and get a few quarters ready just in case. “What do we do now?” he sked Fujita when he was finished.

“I suppose we wait for them to come to us.”

\---

About an hour later, a small shuttle appeared on the viewscreen. This was Fujita’s and Anderson’s sign to leave the bridge and get down to docking bay A, where the shuttle was planned to arrive. When they got there, they were awaited by Tremeni, Counsellor Ochiovik and two junior security officers – Daelur and Kilo.

Right at that moment, the docking bay doors opened and the shuttle which had appeared on the bridge view screen just moments ago, entered. Three figures walked out of a door on the side, their appearance humanoid with a blueish but fleshy skin, a slender body framed by long limbs, and a body with featured that seemed ever so slightly too large. Dark fabric was draped over the bodies, covering them from shoulders to toes.

Fujita stepped forward, her palms stretched out in a universal gesture of peace. “Welcome,” she said.

The visitors halted about three meters way from the diplomatic party. The middle figure raised his balled fist to his chest and then up over his head, after which the other two did the same. “IT is an honour to be received in your house.”

“It is an honour to be allowed the pleasure of receiving you here.”

Fujita put a few steps forward, motioning for her officers to do the same. “Allow me to introduce my first officer Christopher Anderson,” she pointed toward her friend standing on her right, “Counsellor Jastre Ochiovik, Lieutenant Faizan Tremeni, and Ensigns Daelur and Kilo.” Fujita was well aware that protocol stated to only introduce the most important members of a diplomatic party, this usually including the captain themselves, the first officer and the counsellor. However, in Fujita’s opinion all officers were just as important, and she felt it was important to portray this to her guests.

The middle alien wiggled his fingers, presumably in some sort of acknowledgement. Fujita looked at him, waiting for an answer, but eventually realised she were not getting one. “Well, why don’t you follow me to the observation lounge, where we can converse more privately.” She gestured at the docking bay doors. “Or would you rather visit your quarters first?”

Again, no answer came.

Fujita shot a look at Anderson, who responded by raising an eyebrow. Then she lead both parties out of the docking bay and toward the turbolift that would bring them up to the observation lounge in deck one. The journey was silent and awkward, while Fujita tried to explain some of the sightings on the ship. The party was pursued by various sets of eyes as they crossed the bridge and entered the observation lounge. Then the doors closed, and Fujita managed to get everyone seated.

Once everyone had settled, Fujita stood up. “We feel very honoured with your presence here today,” she said. “We are aware of your history with Mister Keeron, and want you to know that we sympathise with you about what he did . This never should have happened. We hope that this incident will not impede these negotiations any further, so that we can start off on a good note.

“I realise that Captain Mhor will have held this same speech, but nonetheless I want to introduce you all to our ways as Federation and its purpose. We, the United Federation of Planets, as founded in 2161, are a peaceful cooperation of over 150 governments that spans over 8,000 lightyears. The members of the Federation are united in various endeavours involving trade, defence, but foremost science and exploration. In our democratic governmental system, the Federation is overseen by the Federation Council, compromised of representatives from member planets and seated in San Francisco, Earth, and led by the Federation President, currently Nanietta Bacco.

As said, members of the Federation cooperate in endeavours such as trade, exploration, science and defence. This means that there are trade agreements between most Federation members, to promote global wellbeing – since there is no currency used in trade in most of the Federation, trade is not a subject of the economy but simply a matter of getting the needed goods at the right place; besides, Federation members share in ideas and knowledge concerning science and stellar cartography. Science is combined, according to the idea that a unity is stronger and more efficient than an individual. Starfleet is the main instrument of exploration in the Federation, but can also be brought into action in diplomatic and defensive missions. The latter is the case during threats to the Federation as a whole, or members individually, We exist to protect our members, but will never start a war with the intend as to broaden our own reach.

“That being said, we are not to interfere in the internal affairs of a society. A member is and always will be their own government and will be let to lead their own people, albeit with Federation rules as guiding principle. Certain qualifications are demanded from Federation members, among these being a certain level of technology, a central governance system, and a legal system that is in no way based on class but treats its citizens as equals.”

Fujita looked through the room at her guests and gave them a while to process her words. Then she threw a quick glance at Anderson, as to see if he had anything to add. He nodded for her to continue.

“Now you know who we are, we offer you a choice: either both of us go our separate ways and we agree to honour each other’s borders; or we negotiate a treaty involving for example borders, trade and scientific cooperation; or lastly you petition to join the federation. We sincerely hope that further contact between our government will be possible, but in no way force you to cooperate with us, neither do we expect an immediate answer. I hope I have made our intentions clear.”

\---

Fujita let our her breath, relieved that she had a moment for herself. This day had consisted entirely of negotiations with the – rather _not_ talkative – Pulusi’Po, where for how many words had been said, they had achieved incredibly little. Fujita had grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Square, where Kenna had interrogated her about the Pulusi’Po with great interest, and now after having had a shower, she sat down on the couch in her quarter with a cup of raktajino in one hand and a book in the other. Anderson would be coming around in just a few minutes to discuss the progress they made today, but Fujita wanted to try and relax a bit before then.

The Admiral had only gotten a few pages into her book when her doors chimed. “Come in,” she said, and to her surprise, it was not Anderson but Neriouix who entered.

“I’m sorry to bother you at this late hour, Captain–”

“No problem.”

“–but I couldn’t reach you and I have something I wanted to discuss with you.”

While listening to the Lieutenant, Fujita realized that she had token off her combadge when getting ready to shower, and had not put it back on when she had changed into different clothes. Apparently she had not noticed Neriouix trying to contact her.

“What’s the matter?” Fujita gestured for Neriouix to come in.

“Oh, it isn’t much, really,” Neriouix said as she followed her captain’s order. “One of my juniors got a weird sensor reading a few hours ago, and first I thought it was a glitch in the matrix again like yesterday, but I got Ya’MogH to check it and it was fine.”

“What was it?”

Neriouix raise her hands. “Well, that’s the thing. We’re still not sure. We read an abnormally high level of veteron particles, which we would usually associate with the creation of wormholes of some kind–”

“I know that.”

“Right, sorry. Well, there _are_ no wormhole in this sector. Nor have there been for, like, the past few _eons_.”

“So you’re wondering where the veteran particles come from.”

“Yes.”

Fujita put down her book and took a sip of her raktajino. “Well, that is curious indeed.” At that moment, the quarters’ doors chimed again and Anderson entered. “You know what,” Fujita said, “I’ll stop by your station before the negotiations start tomorrow, and I’ll have a look at it with you. I’m sure the ship won’t blow before then.” Fujita smiled, and Neriouix gave her a small laugh in return.

“Thank you, Captain. I’ll leave the two of you alone now. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Neriouix.”

Neriouix walked past Anderson, who went to sit next to Fujita, and left the room.

Once Neriouix had gone, Anderson said: “Well, that was quite a day, wasn’t it.”

Fujita nodded, and sunk backward into the pillows on the couch.

“It’s really hard to get even a word out of those Pulusi’po.”

Fujita sipped her drink.

“Well, maybe it’s got something to do with that religion of theirs, would you think? They mention their gods an awful lot.”

“They’re gods, they’re not awful.”

Anderson was slightly surprised by this response. “Since when do you care about religion?”

Fujita glanced at him. “I don’t. I just think you should honour everyone’s believes.”

“Right, ma’am. I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around something that’s so clearly _fake_. I mean, an _omnipotent_ creature, living in some ‘heaven’ dimension and concerning themselves with ‘lower beings’. Even if they exist, why would all-powerful beings – probably just aliens too – even care about these people? Sounds like an awful load of crap to me.”

“ _Chris_.”

“What?”

Fujita sighed. “I don’t think you’re wring, technically, I just think you’re missing the point of religion.”

“Because you’re so well educated in religion?” Anderson crossed his arms.

“Well, no, but I _am_ from a highly religious planet. I mean, yes, that religion actually was a load of crap – there was no such thing as ‘Doi, the goddess of death’, really just angry Borg – But in the end, religion isn’t about whether something is real or not. It’s about whether you want to _believe_. It’s about hope and serenity and union between people. And these Pulusi’Po do seem united.”

Anderson did not respond.

“And also, don’t forget the Q. They’re like gods.”

Anderson laughed. “Yes, because they have humanity’s best interest at heart.”

“Okay, not the best example perhaps,” Fujita admitted with a smile. “Anyhow, we might not have made much process today, but I’m pretty happy that the Pulusi’Po are willing to talk with us at all.”


	4. III

AS THE YOUNG MAN fell down, he felt the wind rush past his body, and he was filled with excitement. This was it. This was the moment he had spent his whole life working towards. This was the moment he would show who he really was.

Above him, the young men heard shouting. It sounded both excited and scared. He wished they were not scared. There was no reason they should be. He could do this, he knew he could. He had trained his entire life. Now it was time to spread his wings and show what he was made off.

The air rushed down with him, at up past him. The mist had long since covered the sky and his people where invisible by now. The ground was far away and hidden in a veil of blackness. Through all that seemed not to exist, a small blue spot shone toward the man – not much more than a boy, really. It was awfully far away and did not seem to get any closer. Yet it gave the man hope. Just a little further, just a little.

\---

Morning came again, way too early according to most, but Fujita had been up for hours. She never slept much, never had. Her genetically enhanced physiology allowed her to function just as well on three to five hours of sleep as others did no seven to nine. That left her much more time to most to finish up on reports. Since yesterday, she had finished about half of the pile that haunted her desk. The other half could wait.

Fujita put her plate and cup back into the replicator, which transformed the particles of the half-finished breakfast back into energy. Then Fujita cleared up the rest of the room and left her Quarters. She walked over to the turbolift and sent it to the science department. Once she reached her destination, she got out and walked to the room that contained the main science area.

There was no one inside. Fujita entered the room and looked around. The panels were closed down and the environment was tidy, like it would look late at night when most officers had left, or in the very early morning before they came to work.

Adjacent from this area lay a second room. From where she was standing, Fujita saw an ensign working inside.

“Excuse me,” she said as she walked toward the Andorian. “Would you happen to know where Lieutenant Neriouix is?”

The ensign’s eyes went big t the sight of his captian. “Uh– n– no, sir! I haven’t seen her yet this morning.”

“Alright. Thank you, ensign. Please continue your work.”

As Fujita wanted to turn around and leave the room, the Andorian stopped her. “She’s actually a little late, sir,” he said. “I usually end my shift at 7 AM and she’ll be there before then. I thought I’d wait until she’d get here, but it’s already–” the ensign checked the time on his console, “–past 8. Her shift starts at 8.”

Fujita frowned. That was curious. She had told Neriouix that she would meet her before her own shift started, and she was even running late herself – as captain she had that privilege, although she usually made a habit of being early. Neriouix was a little chaotic, but she was never late.

“Thank you, En– What’s your name?”

“Otahryss Ch'raahnot, sir.”

“Thank you, Ch’raahnot,” the Admiral said. She had always felt that one of the most important traits of a good captain was showing interest in your crewmembers, no matter their rank.

After greeting the ensign, Fujita left the science area and headed toward Neriouix’s quarters at deck five. While she was walking, she contacted the computer system. “Computer, locate Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix.”

The computer sounded a few tones, then spoke in a mechanic female voice: _“Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix is not aboard the ship.”_

Fujita halted in the middle of her step. _What?_ “Computer, please confirm that.

_“Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix is not aboard the ship.”_

That did not make any sense to Fujita. _Where would she be?_

“Captain to Neriouix,” Fujita tried.

The empty corridor filled with silence for a few seconds as no reply came from the Admiral’s combadge. Then the computer repeated: _“Lieutenant Aridiya Neriouix is not aboard the ship.”_

Fujita continued her walk to the turbolift and travelled down to deck five. There, she made her way to Neriouix’s charters and rang the chime. As she had expected, no reply came. As Fujita entered the override code in the doors’s locking mechanism, the doors slid open and Fujita stepped inside.

The room was as empty as the science department had been.

Fujita had stepped into the quarters’ living room first, where an empty mug still occupied the replicator and books and padds were scattered all around. The couch was filled with a threefold of clothing items, each a different shade of blue. A tri-D chessboard stood on the glass table in front of the couch, and one of the living room’s corners was filled with Trill artwork – some unpacked, some still in protective boxes. Other pieces of art filled the three walls of the room, some of them Fujita recognized as having been made by the Trill woman herself. A corner at the opposite side of the room was occupied by Neriouix’s drum set.

This was Neriouix’s living space as Fujita knew it. Messy but not to a too extreme extent, simple but lively. The only thing that was missing from it was the occupant herself. After the Admiral gad scanned the entire room, she concluded that her Chief Science Officer was indeed absent.

While sitting down at the couch underneath the big windows that stared into the vastness if space, Fujita tapped her combadge. “Captain to Anderson.”

 _“Anderson here_.”

“Chris, Neriouix is missing.”

\---

“I don’t understand,” Anderson said, standing next to his captain in Neriouix’s quarters. “I saw her only yesterday evening.”

“Both of us did.”

“Where could she have gone?”

Fujita noticed the tension in her first officer’s voice, and put her hands on his shoulders. “I don’t know Chris, but I swear, we _will_ find her. I’m sure there’s a completely logical answer for all of this.”

Anderson scratched the back of his head. “But what _is_ it.”

“Let’s check the records, maybe she beamed down to the planet or took a shuttle.” Fujita walked over to the doors and exited the room.

“Why would she have? She had no business off the ship.”

Fujita nod not respond, but lead Anderson to the turbolift down the hall. When they reached the bridge, Fujita walked straight to Lieutenant Tremeni at Ops. By now, he – like the rest of the bridge crew – had been made aware of Neriouix’s disappearance, and he had started checking the sensor and shuttle logs.

“Anything?” Fujita asked once she stood next to him.

Tremeni shook his head. “All shuttle’s are in and the sensor logs come up negative.”

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary?”

“No, sir.”

Fujita sighed. This made no sense. The Admiral looked around the bridge, where all eyes rested on her. “Has _anyone_ seen Neriouix since last evening?”

The room stayed silent.

“Fujita,” Anderson started after a moment, “you have to talk to out honoured guests.”

Fujita turned around sharply and looked at her friend. “I’m _not_ gonna blame them for this. I simply can’t. We’re lucky they’re willing to talk to us at all, I’m not about to ruin that.”

“It’s the only possibility, they must have abducted her.”

“They _must_ have done nothing! We don’t know anything. I’m not going to talk to them until we know more.”

Anderson’s shoulder slummed, and Fujita realized her friend was scared. “We’re talking about Aridiya’s life. She could be in danger,” he remarked.

“We’re talking about an entire planet full of people that might want to join the Federation and that we might be able to help!” Fujita was aware that her voice was gaining in volume, but Anderson was not the only one who was anxious and she did not want to tone herself down. “The lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few, you know that as well as I do.”

Anderson put a step backward. “I can’t believe you’re that cold.”

Fujita bit her tongue as she tried to encase her rage.

Anderson was not done, however, and Fujita realised that she should have recognised the anger in her first officer’s eyes sooner. As he started speaking, she heard bitterness in his voice. “Don’t project your own guilt onto this conversation, ma’am, snap the hell out of it! You did not kill Delia, you did the right thing. Stop trying to justify that to yourself with everything you do, we _know_! That’s simply not of the essence here.”

Fujita felt like she had been hit in the face and needed a moment to recollect herself. Then she stormed off the bridge and into her ready room. Had there been any doors to slam, then she would surely have done so.

\---

Anderson could have kicked himself when he realised what he had done. He had never seen Fujita walk out of a room like that. He had seen her hit walls or people when she was angry, he had even seen her slam people _against_ walls or threaten to throw someone out of an airlock – be it a disobedient crewmember or a murderous alien – but he had _never_ seen her walk out on someone. Anderson knew Fujita believed that anger was something that had to be dealt with, not stored away, which had resulted in her using him as a punching bag more than once – usually figuratively, to his great relief. And that was fine, Anderson knew that Fujita had had a lifetime – two actually – of dealing with anger issues, and he would gladly step into the line of fire if that meant he could protect someone else from it. And he knew that Fujita was aware of what he was doing for her, and she was grateful.

But know _he_ was the source of her anger, and Anderson had injured her in the most painful way. But he knew he was right, too. Fujita was trying to justify her own actions, actions that had been right in the first place, by projecting them onto this situation. She was trying to soothe her guilt by confirming, as she had put, that the lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few. That the lives of her crew had been more important than that of her daughter. And there was a certain logic to this Vulcan belief, that was undeniable. But that did not mean it was the case in every situation. Every scenario should be dealt with by different standards, because in every situation different prices are at stake. That is what Anderson believed.

But no matter what he believed and what Fujita believes, he should never have said what he just had. It had spilled out before he had been able to stop it, and a burning feeling of regret spread through his stomach.

All of a sudden,” Tremeni’s voice whispered close to the First Officer’s ear. “Commander… uhm… What are we supposed to do?”

Anderson became aware of his surroundings and noticed that the entire bridge crew was staring at him. “As you were,” the Commander said, his voice less steady than he had hoped. As the officers around him turned back to their stations, Anderson walked over to the Captain’s ready room.

The door was not locked. That was at least something.

Anderson walked into the room, carefully staying close to the door.

“Get out,” Fujita said from across the room.

Anderson did not move.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Anderson put a step forward, then another. Now he could see his commanding officer standing at the back of her ready room, arms locked behind her back and eyes staring into space.

“Fujita, please here me out–”

Before Anderson had finished his sentence, Fujita had turned around, her eyes burning. “Get. Out.”

Anderson fumbled with his hands, anxiety rising inside him. But still, he did not budge. He had to make this right.

Fujita turned back around, throwing her hands up in the air until they rested at the back of her head. “Ragh! Don’t ever do that to me again!”

With the last word, Anderson felt the woman’s outstretched finger burn into his chest, even though it was meters away. He noticed that the anger in Fujita’s eyes had turned into something else. Desperation? He walked toward the woman, taking her outstretched hand in his.

Fujita pulled away.

Anderson sighed. “I’m so, so sorry, ma’am.”

“Don’t all me that.”

Anderson sat down on the couch underneath the window, his head resting in his hands. “I am sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I’m just– I want to find Aridiya. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Don’t try to justify what you said.”

“I care about her.”

Fujita shot a look at Anderson. “And I don’t?”

“I didn’t say that–”

“No, but you think you are the only one entitle to feel scared.”

“I don’t!”

Fujita sat down with a sight. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“I suppose neither of us is at our bests right now.”

“Hhm.”

Fujita pulled her legs up onto the couch and looked at her friend. “We will find her.”

Anderson looked back. “You did the right thing.” He saw Fujita wanting to look away, but she kept locked in his gaze. Then she glanced down at her hands.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no word came out.

Anderson, feeling slightly baffled at this display of emotion, put his arm around his commanding officer. “I know, Fujita.”

Fujita stiffened, but did not pull away. They sat like that for a few minutes, the both of them sunken into their own thoughts. Then Fujita stood up. “We’ve got a job to do.”


	5. IV

FUJITA LOOKED AT THE stern faces across the room. It was the second day of the negotiations, a few hours after she had discovered the disappearance of Neriouix. Now, she was sitting in the observation lounge with Anderson, Ochiovik and the three Pulusi’Po. The Pulusi’Po had shown interest in a trade agreement the previous day, and the Starfleet officers were trying to find out what would suit both sides.

The Pulusi’Po were not very cooperative, however. As they had noticed before, the aliens were not very talkative and let Fujita take the lead in the conversation. The Pulusi’po had, however, given a short inventory of products produced on their planet, and a shortage of needed products. Fujita had glanced over it quickly, and she had come to the conclusion that there were some possibilities.

But now it was time for a break. Fujita called to reconvene in an hour, and led her guests out of the room. Then she went back in to consult with her officers, who were still sitting inside.

“I’ve had a look at this list,” Anderson said. “I think there are some things we can work with.”

Fujita nodded and sat down in between him and Ochiovik.

Anderson pointed at an item on the list. “Our esteemed guests seem to have considerably large dilithium deposit, and are using relatively little of it.”

“That surely is a good asset.”

Anderson nodded. “And I looked at some of the items they could use. Would it be possible for us to provide them with retrichon particles? They seem to be using it as part of their energy systems, but their own sources are running out. We only need a small amount of it, and have more than enough stored on Tichus Prime and Ariaan, among others.”

“I think that might be acceptable,” Fujita acknowledged.

“Do you think it would be enough?” Ochiovik speculated.

“They haven’t been very positive about any of our other offers.”

“You shouldn’t overlook the importance of these particles to the Pulusi’Po,” Anderson said. “They are to them wath dilithium is to us.”

Ochiovik was not convinced. “Their deposits of retrichon particles are bigger than our dilithium sources, relatively speaking. I wouldn’t be so sure that they would accept it.”

“I’m not sure we could offer anything more,” Fujita said.

“What if we were to help them scrub their atmosphere?” Anderson asked. “They could give us some of their _apraghacian_.”

As the science crew of the _Starlight_ had scanned the planet below, they had noticed the high level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses its atmosphere. When comparing the levels to those on 20th century Earth and other planets that had dealt with the problems of global warming, the Pulusi’Po seemed to have a huge problem on their hands, and the danger to the environment was almost reaching a life threatening severity.

Fujita lifted an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty big thing you’re proposing. And we don’t even know if they want it.”

“They have a big problem, and according to out calculations, they are too far gone to save themselves.”

Fujita took a moment to ponder the plan. It was definitely a fair deal on the Pulusi’Po’s end. But she was afraid her first officer was not being realistic about what this would cost the Federation. It was not so much a matter of whether they had enough recourses – they did – but mostly a matter of time and people. I was not as simple as removing some carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they would have to build a planetary ring to provide with enough scrubbing power and to make it a long-term solution. Because the Admiral was afraid that – with the rate at which the Pulusi’Po were polluting the air – they would be back at where they started within no time if provided with a onetime scrub.

A project like this would take years. Years of sending tens or hundreds of people out to a back alley of the Federation and of having close contact with a species they did not yet know anything about. If the Pulusi’Po and the federation were to fall out, they would either be stuck with each other or have a half-finished project, which meant waster recourses, time, the end of their trading deal, and it could possibly even cost lives – accidents happen in every project.

“It’s risky.”

“It might be the only way.”

Fujita sighed and looked at each of her officers in turn. “Let’s propose it.”

\---

“That will not be acceptable.”

The Pulusi’Po had returned to the observation lounge after a quick recess, and Fujita had proposed the idea she, Ochiovik and Anderson had come up with.

The Pulusi’Po had wiped it away before they had even had the time to think about it.

“Uhm,” Fujita hesitated, feeling confused. She had just offered the opportunity of the century to them, and they looked like she had insulted them. “That’s alright, I’m sure we can find another way to help you…”

“We do not want you to defile out air,” the leading Pulusi’Po – Baliaricus – said.

“Not to worry,” Anderson jumped in. “We won’t be doing anything without your permission.

A second Pulusi’po, named Himilyus, responded. “You do not understand. You think we are wrong, but our air is holy. IT is the gods’ wish.”

Fujita glanced at Anderson, reminded of the conversation she had with him the day before. He looked back, and then turned to face Ochiovik.

The Betazoid woman spoke up. “We understand that this is against your religion, we’re not about to change anything about your air – or your planet for that matter. We can find something different we can provide you with. This trading agreement is about the both of us, and we’ll only be making a decision on it if both parties are in favour.”

The three Pulusi’Po stood up, which they did so unitedly that it seemed they were one person. “No trading agreement,” Baliaricus stated.

“What?” Ochiovik looked at her captain, unsure of what had just happened.

Fujita lifted her hands in a peaceful gesture. “Let’s calm down, everyone. I’m sure we can work this out.”

The three aliens sat down.

Suddenly, Fujita had an idea. “Why don’t we go down to your planet and continue these negotiations there? I’m sure that would make you more comfortable.”

“No!” The deep voice of Beliaricus filled the room and echoed of the walls. “Imari is sacred, no strangers are allowed to touch her grounds.”

Fujita sighed. This was not going anywhere.

\---

At the end of the day, Fujita made her way to Ops, where she approached Lieutenant Tremeni. “Any news?” she asked, referring to the situation with Neriouix.

Tremeni shook his head. “No sir, sorry.”

Fujita brushed her hand through her messy hair. “Not your fault. Keep scanning.”

As the Captain was about to walk down to her ready room, Anderson walked up behind her. “She’s down there.”

Fujita turned around to face her first officer.

“She’s down at that planet, there’s no other way.”

“I think you’re right, Anderson, I really do. But you heard Beliaricus. We’re not allowed to go down to the planet.”

Anderson clenched his fist. “So what are we gonna do, miss?”

“We can’t ruin this chance with the Pulusi’Po.”

“It’s not going to work out, Fujita. You know that as well as I do. They simply don’t want it to.”

Fujita shook her head and then steadied her shoulders. “Nothing is over until it is.”

“So what now?”

“Gather the senior officers.”

As Anderson did what Fujita asked, she walked over to the observation lounge. Once inside, she walked over to the display case in the back of the room, which displayed a variety of Starfleet ship designs. Among them were, of course, a Starlight-class ship – the _Starlight_ , as the only one of her kind, had her designed named after her – a Constitution-class ship to honour her old ship the USS _Frudael_ and her late husband’s _Enterprise_ , a Galaxy-class ship, an Intrepid-class ship, and a design of the ex-Cardassian station Deep Space 9. These were the ships that meant the most to her, on each of which she had served.

The observation lounge door slid open with a _whoosh_ , and Fujita’s seven senior officers entered – Neriouix the only one of them that was absent, for obvious reasons.

Fujita waited until each of them had sat own, then turned around. “It has now been twelve hours since the disappearance of Lieutenant Neriouix. Various scans and investigations have led to nothing. There is no trace of a beam-out, neither has a shuttle been used or has any other type of vessel been detected in the vicinity. There are simply no leads for us to follow.

“There rests only one logical conclusion: Neriouix is down on the planet. We don’t know how she should have gotten there, why she would have gone there or who could have token her, but the only way that still be alive – and she _is_ alive, I refuse to think otherwise – and will allow us to find her, is if she’s down there.” Fujita saw the look of relief on Anderson face as his commanding officer finally admitted what he had said hours before.”

“What’s the plan?” Chief Engineer Ya’MogH asked.

“We can’t send down a rescue team, can we?” Ochiovik stated. “The Pulusi’Po said they don’t accept visitors on their planet.”

“Why is that?” Doctor McCoy asked.

Ochiovik answered: “Something to do with their religion.”

Fujita, who was still standing, lifted her hands. “Everyone, shut up please.”

The room fell silent, and everyone faced Fujita. The Admiral looked across the room. McCoy was fumbling with a padd, Ya’MogH looked cold as ever, Ochiovik and Anderson seemed anxious.

“I’m definitely not going to order you to go down to the planet with a rescue team,” Fujita said after a while.

Anderson shot up. “But–”

Fujita did not let him finish. “Definitely not. There is no way that we can do that. We surely can’t break out guests’ wishes.” The woman’s voice hid a hint of sarcasm.

Anderson stared at his commanding officer, a slight frown contouring his face. “Are you telling us to get down there?”

“I most definitely am not. Anyone who attempts to go down to the planet will receive harsh punishment.”

Ochiovik leaned toward Anderson and whispered something is his ear, but Fujita managed to pick up on it. “Is she being sarcastic?”

Anderson pursed his lips. “Yeah, I would think she is.” Then he said out loud: “So we don’t go down there. Clear.”

“I sure hope it is.” A smile appeared on Fujita’s lips.

\---

Anderson stood in his quarters, looking at the bag laying on his bed. He had spent the past few hours packing anything he might need when down on Soterras, as the Pulusi’Po called their planet. His bag now contained a week’s worth of food rations and water, a reserve phaser in case the one on his belt broke down, a tricorder, an emergency beam-out device, a portable version of his AI Athena, a long piece of rope, climbing hooks and various tools and bits – he never went anywhere without the equipment to make one of his inventions.

Anderson scratched his head. What else would he need? It was hard to guess how long it would take to find Neriouix, so he had little idea of what he would need to take with him. He decided that it could never be a bad idea to take an extra uniform. The man walked over to his closet, took out a fresh pair of clothing and stuffed it in the already too full bag.

Thinking back on the conference in the observation lounge, Anderson recalled Fujita’s approach. She had been pretty smart. By telling her officers not to go to Soterras, even though she obviously meant the opposite, she had created some ground for herself if Anderson and his away team would be discovered. She could pretend that they had acted on their own, she would not be lying when she told the Pulusi’Po that she had refused her officers to do what they were about to do, and there was at least a slight chance that the Pulusi’Po would believe her. This way, the negotiations with the Pulusi’Po could possibly be saved, and the only danger to Anderson and his team was a possible court martial for disobeying a direct order, ignore the wishes of a civilization and endangering a diplomatic mission. But the London man was sure that Fujita would get him out of that situation.

Not that he was planning to get caught. There was way too much at stake, and Anderson was determined to save the life of his friend. For now the plan was to go down to the planet and stay under the radar for a while until they managed to discover anything about Neriouix’s whereabouts. He was positive that the arrival of an alien on the Pulusi’Po planet would cause some turmoil. Anderson was not sure how long this would take, however, possibly days. If they would discover anything at all. If not… well, that was an issue they would deal with when it would arise.

For now, it was time for Anderson to head down to docking bay three, where B.J., Ya’MogH and McCoy where waiting. He had picked these officers for their tactical and practical skills, and in case of B.J. Ya’MogH for their excellent fighting abilities. McCoy was coming along in case Neriouix would be injured, or if any of themselves would get hurt during the mission.

Anderson lifted his bag – not too heavy, that was good – and hung it around his shoulder. Then he scanned the room one more time as to make sure that he had not forgotten anything. He did not see anything that was left behind, so he walked toward the doors of his quarters and entered the corridor. The first officer passes a few crewmembers on his way to deck 21, who greeted him politely.

Upon arrival in docking bay 3, Anderson saw that Doctor McCoy was already inside. He stood leaning against the shuttle that the team would be tacking to reach Soterras.

McCoy looked up as soon as the bay’s doors slid open. “Good afternoon, sir,” he greeted his first officer.

“Hello Doctor, sir.”

Both men fell silent for a few minutes s they waited. Then McCoy spoke again. “We aren’t ruining these negotiations like this, are we?”

“We probably are, old sport.”

“I don’t like that,” McCoy frowned. “But I suppose we have more important things to worry about right now. I owe Neriouix my life, you know.”

Anderson turned to face McCoy. “I don’t, actually.”

“Well technically it was Neriouix’s previous host, Kobbelen. I used to know him way back. I was stationed on Trill for a while as part of my pre-medical training, and I got in trouble with some Algolians. They’re usually not very aggressive and I don’t remember what the issue was, but let me tell you something, they were _angry_. And well, I suppose I wasn’t very careful at the time, either. I remember hanging above a ravine just outside of Leran Manev, the Algolian’s arm around my collar. Next thing I know I’m lying in a bed at Kobbelen’s house and his wife Ira is staring me in my face. Later, Kobbelen tells me he saw the Algolians and me when he was walking around his property. The Algolians got scared and ran away, dropping me into the ravine. Kobbelen managed to get me out just before it was too late. I suppose I blocked out the memories, but I owe that man one. Or well, Aridiya now of course.”

“That sounds like a very good deed indeed,” Anderson responded after letting the story sink in. “I didn’t know Aridiya used to be married.”

“Oh yes she did, Ira is a lovely woman. I still talk to her every now and then. They used to have a son too, Kinnik.”

“She never told me that.”

McCoy shrugged. “I don’t find that very surprising. It was Ira who told me, actually. Kobbelen was never much of a talker, if I’m right.”

As McCoy finished talking, the docking bay doors slid open again and let B.J. and Ya’MogH through. Anderson and McCoy picked up their bags, and as soon as the other two officers reached them, all of them entered the shuttle. Anderson sat down at the help, with B.J. occupying the chair next to him. McCoy and Ya’MogH took the rear positions.


	6. V

THE JOURNEY DOWN TO SOTERRAS would only have costed half an hour at normal speed, but since the officers had to make sure their shuttle would remain unnoticed, their decent took three hours. They landed a few kilometres outside of Soterras capital city Rrharusa, in a small clearing in a forested region of the land.

The first thing the team had to do once they landed, was install a device that would register any transmissions in the surrounding regions. If they would be able to find a useful amount of information this way, the officers would not have to enter the city and would therefore put themselves in less danger. Two Humans, a Lepori and a part-Cardassian, part-Klingon, part-Bajoran were sure to be noticed among a species of blue-skinned humanoids, after all.

As Anderson finished up with the landing procedures, Ya’MogH had already gathered the equipment they would need to install the eavesdropping device, and she dropped the bag which contained the parts next to her first officer’s chair in the front of the shuttle. Silently, she started to unpack. Anderson got on his knees and helped her.

Slowly, the floor filled with parts. The two engineers – Anderson was technically trained in the sciences, but was perhaps even more skilled than the Chief Engineer – sorted the pieces and tools, and soon they could start building. Five metal pipes formed the frame of the transponder, with the hub – a elliptical piece of metal that contained the main wiring network - on top of them. The total project did not take them longer than an hour.

After assembling the last piece, Anderson sat back and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “That’s that,” he commented.

“Not yet,” Ya’MogH said, her voice deep as usual. She lifted the device and placed it on top of the panel which Anderson had used to steer the ship. Then she lifted part of the panel, which contained a bundle of wires, and connected the transponder to the computer system. Then she nodded.

Anderson placed a hand on the shoulder of the alien hybrid woman – she was part Cardassian, part Klingon, part Bajoran – and he felt the ridged bones underneath her uniform. “Well done.”

Without responding, Ya’MogH shrugged of her first officer’s hand and walked back to the chair she had been sitting in during the trip. She crossed her arms. “And now? Do we just… wait?”

“Yes, ma’am, that _is_ the plan.”

\---

Fujita sat down as the Pulusi’Po left the observation lounge, led out by an ensign from security. With a sigh, she lifted her hands behind her head and looked at Ochiovik – who was now the only officer with her, since Anderson was down on Soterras. She did no very much enjoy being without both her first, second and third officer, and having to leave the bridge of her ship in the hands of a less experienced officer for most of the day while she was negotiating with her guests. That being said, she had known her helmsman Alessia Jasaiax for some years now and trusted her a great deal. She had rather her close friends were with her, however. Although she had not known Anderson and B.J. as long as Jasaiax, she had learned to trust them with her life these past nine months.

Fujita noticed Ochiovik looking at her – she had known the Betazoid woman for years too, they had met back in 2371 when they had both been on _Voyager_ when it got stuck in the Delta Quadrant.

“Are you okay, Captain?” Ochiovik asked, genuinely interested. She was the ship’s counsellor after all, she _had_ to be interested. Although Ochiovik did not have any telepathic or empathic ability like other Betazoids – a skill that made many of them capable counsellors – she had a fine sense of emotions.

Fujita sighed. “It’s been a long day. What about we call it a night.”

“Captain.”

“What.”

There came no response from Ochiovik’s part, which told Fujita that she had spoken too loudly. _Damn_.

“Are you okay?” The Betazoid’s voice sounded demanding.

Fujita got up. “I’m fine, Counsellor.”

“Alright.” Neither woman believed Fujita’s answer. “Shouldn’t we discuss today’s results?”

Fujita sat back down. Ochiovik was right, a lot had happened with the Pulusi’Po since Anderson had left with his away team, and it was customary to discuss the results at the end of each session. “I think we should be happy with what we managed today.”

Ochiovik nodded. “I’m positive that they’ll agree to the trade deal when they give their answer tomorrow.”

“So am I.” Fujita gave a tired smile. “This is really something. Yesterday, these three wouldn’t even speak and now we might have a deal.”

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

Fujita took a moment to consider this. “I suppose we’ll need one more session to work out the deal’s details, and then we can move on to the next point. I’d have to contact Starfleet Command and see what they want.”

Ochiovik nodded. “Alright, let me know what they say.”

Fujita acknowledged the Counsellor and stood up again. “Well, I think we’re through here. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.

After the two women moved over to the turbolift, each of them went their own way. Ochiovik made her way down to the Square, where she would grab a quick bite to eat and catch up with Kenna. Fujita headed straight to her quarters, where she jumped right into the shower and changed into more comfortable clothes. Then she sunk down on her couch with a cup of hot raktajino and continued reading her book. She had little focus, however, and but the book down after only a few pages.

The Admiral’s mind kept wandering to her officers down on Soterras. Since they had to stay under the radar, Fujita held ordered the team to stay on radio silence until they returned to space. While she knew it was the right thing to do, Fujita now wished she had any way to contact Anderson and know how they were doing. They had only been on Soterras for a few hours and therefore it was unlikely that they had discovered anything already, but the mission was dangerous and Fujita was feeling worried.

A sudden wetness against Fujita’s hand shook her out of her thoughts. As she looked down, she saw her dog Seyvah licking her hand. Fujita smiled. Dogs and such great instincts. She out down her cup and reached for her dog, who jumped on her lap and started licking her face.

“Stop it!” Fujita laughed, and she pushed Seyvah’s snout away. The dog jumped to the other side of the couch and back on top of her owner, too excited to sit still. Fujita could not help but smile at her dog’s happiness.

“I have an idea,” she said, getting exited herself. The woman chucked down the rest of her raktajino – an act wish was not very advisable – and got up. While Seyvah sat down at Fujita’s feet, het tail wagging wildly, Fujita put her hair back up in a ponytail and put on her shoes. Then she walked to the doors of her quarters.

As the doors slid open, the Admiral turned around and saw her dog still sitting near the couch. “Come here you silly.”

\---

“Ragh!” Fujita hit the tree hard, and she was glad the holodeck’s safety mechanism was on. That would have hurt. Even before she hit the ground, she was already back on her feet and ran forward to face the Klingon that was attacking her. She swung her sword toward the man in an overarm movement, and heard the loud _klang_ as the Klingon caught her weapon with his bat’leth. Fujita anticipated her enemies move and pulled away right before the Klingon turned his weapon in a move that would have shattered her sword.

Fujita jumped backward to dodge an attack, then dashed forward as she targeted the man’s legs. She managed to hit his right leg, but felt a strong rush of air on her left side and had do duck before she could do any real damage. She then caught herself on the ground with her arms, and whistled two short and high notes.

Within a few seconds, her dog flew over her at the Klingon, locking onto his face and biting him aggressively. The Klingon was throws of balance, and Fujita help him down with one last swing of her sword.

As the Klingon hit the ground, he disappeared in thin air. Fujita put her sword in its sheathe and put her hands on her hips. Before she had caught her breath, the ball of fur that was Seyvah had latched onto her.

“Calm down, sweetie,” she said as she sank down on het knees to pet her dog.

Seyvah gave her owner an excited lick on her hand and allowed her to scratch behind her ear.

“I think I’m glad I’m not you enemy. You finished him very well.”

Seyvah looked Fujita in the eye and rumbled. _You would have been dead if it weren’t for me_.

Fujita tilted her head and pursed her lips, a smile still on her face. “No I wouldn’t!”

 _Sure_.

Fujita shook her head and got up. She patted the side of her left leg and started walking, Seyvah followed her at her heel. After a moment, Fujita started running, then sprinting until she was crossing the holographic forest at full speed. Seyvah could easily keep up with her, jumping over fallen branches and circling around trees. As Fujita saw a cliff face rise up behind the trees, she launched herself forward onto the rock and clasped some stones until she found a steady position. On her left she saw a small plateau, and she stuck out her hand. Seyvah jumped onto it, and Fujita placed her on the plateau in one coordinated move. Then she continued climbing upwards, sometimes placing her dog on other notches, sometimes carrying her.

After a while, she got on top of the rock face. She scrambled to her feet and looked around. She was standing on the top of an enormous rock pillar, one of many that were surrounding her, The rest of the valley was covered with dark green trees, each of them hundreds of meters high but she herself reaching way above them.

Fujita felt the adrenaline rush through her veins, and for a moment she could not be happier. This was life, standing on he edge of danger, yet trusting your own abilities to survive. She had just beaten three angry Klingons, and now she was standing hundreds of meters high into the sky with nature as far as she could see. This was life.

For a moment, a rush of memories to a similar experience came over Fujita. A little over a century, she had been standing on a pillar like this on Earth – although less high, Earth was a planet of small dimensions – with James on her side. Their ships were in orbit, Delia was with her grandparents in Iowa. Kirk and Fujita had felt like they had been all alone in the universe, excitement rushing through them and the love between them strong. Back then, they had not been aware of all the hardship that would come on their path. The future had been bright, life long and their carriers happy. Within twenty years, that life would be gone.

Fujita shook away the memories and returned to the present. It was no use wasting a happy memory like this. The woman lay down, her body resting on the hard rock and her arms behind her head. She felt Seyvah rustling beside her, and soon her dog lay her head down on Fujita’s belly. The Admiral stared at the cloud formations rushing past her high above. It was unbelievable how for off those clouds still seemed, although she herself was so high up. Each of them was like a nebula, but all white and more lightly packed. They were so peaceful. No matter what would happen in the universe, clouds would always keep rushing by…

\---

Fujita woke up suddenly, bolting up. She took a ragged breath, feeling Seyvah jump away from her, startled out of her own nap.

Apparently, she had fallen asleep. Fujita frowned. She never fell asleep during the day, she had enough trouble sleeping at night. She was not sure what had awoken her, either, but she remembered the dream she had before waking up. She had been on the _Enterprise_ with Jim, sitting in an empty mess hall with a tri-D chess board in between the two of them. The board had been filled with only white pieces, Fujita was not sure what had happened to the black ones. She and Kirk were not playing, they had just been facing each other as time rushed by. Sometimes a crewmember had entered, but they had left them alone and it had seemed to Fujita as if they had been in a separate universe. Fujita and Kirk had only had eye for each other. Not in a romantic or even emotional way, it had just been as if the entire world did not matter, as if nothing besides each other had been worth taking notice of.

After a while, Fujita had noticed that the chess board had disappeared. So had the table and the mess hall. Instead, Fujita and Kirk had been sitting on a beach on Earth. It had been a sunny spring afternoon, the western ocean was calm as there was no wind. Even though she had not seen it, Fujita knew that behind her there had been a small church. The church itself was not very interesting, four walls made of old grey stones with a dark wooden roof – probably spruce – that led high up in the sky. Each wall contained two stained glass windows that depicted scenes from the Bible, and the side behind Fujita contained a door. It had been centuries since the church had been used for its original purpose, and Fujita and Kirk – who were both atheistic, like most of the Humans on Earth – had little emotional connection with it in terms of this purpose. The building had served as a school when it lost its religious purpose, and had now be vacant for decades.

For all its simplicity, this church had been one of the most important locations in the shared lives of Fujita and her husband. This had been the place they had gotten married. Located on the couple’s property, that stretched out for kilometres just outside of San Francisco and also contained their own house, it had been their own property but they had not used it previously. Kirk had discovered the building years back, when they had first acquired the land, and had insisted on marrying there. Fujita had insisted she did not care about the wedding, but in reality she had found it the perfect spot.

Back in the day, the church had resembled a small ruin, ivy covering most of the walls both inside and out, and it still contained its original chairs and altar. Kirk had taken it on himself to make the building ready for use, but had made sure to leave much of its original vibe. I the end it had been both functional, beautiful and mysterious – exactly what the two had wanted. Sand inside had been just enough space for their closest friends.

As Fujita’s mind returned to the beach, she and Jim stood up and made their way to the church. As they entered, holding each other’s hand, Fujita noticed that she was actually hanging from on the railing of one of the overhanging corridors in _Voyager_ , and it was not her husband’s hand she was holding. _Voyager_ was hanging on her side, and Fujita felt gravity taking a hold of her and her fingers slipping off the cold metal of the railing. The only thing holding her up was the hand of… smoke covered the face of the man above her. She knew that hand, she knew it very well.

The hand slowly pulled Fujita up until she could lift herself onto the deck. Now the Human could see the face of her saviour. IT was Emion.

Fujita had felt like she had taken a step back at the sight of her old lover, but in reality she had been nailed to the corridor’s floor.

Emion had said something, but Fujita had been unable to make out what. It seemed her ears were not working – the entire place felt awfully quite. But Fujita did not feel scared. All she could think about the man standing in front of her, and how he could be with her. She had last seen him four years ago. They had been in the Delta Quadrant, Emion the captain of his own ship. _Voyager_ had returned to the Delta Quadrant, and Fujita had been sure she would never see her lover again.

Suddenly, Fujita became aware of another presence in the room. As she turned around, she saw Kirk standing a few meters away from her, wearing his green low-cut captain’s outfit. Turning back toward Emion, Fujita noticed the knife in the bearded man’s hand. Her eyes grew big, and she jumped backwards – almost tumbling over the raining once again – as Emion dashed forward and charged the Admiral’s late husband.

Fujita had woken up before she could have seen how the fight would end, and now she was sitting on the cold ground, the clouds still passing overhead.

 _“Fujita,”_ a mechanic voice sounded, and Fujita realised that Ochiovik had called her twice before. She tapped her combadge and responded: “Diru here.”

_“Captain, could you come to the observation lounge please.”_


	7. VI

AS THE MAN COULD swear he could touch the blue light and he imagines the feeling of the heavy ground against his body, the ground that was getting awfully close, he decided it was time for action. He took a deep breath and spread his arms forward. Then he unfolded the two enormous white wings on his back.

The man rushed down a few more meters, the wings slowing his decent just slightly. As he felt his fingers close around the blue diamond, he put all his energy toward his wings. They moved forward first slowly, then all at once and the man shot upward. For the first time, he dared looking up at the sky. The mist still covered the entrance to the ravine, but the man felt relieved to be facing the light instead of the dark.

Slowly, he started to rise. With each beat of his wings, he was lifted a few meters into the sky, the diamond still in his hand. After a while, the mist began to grow thinner and the man could make out shapes overhead. A few minutes after that, he flew over the edge of the ravine and carefully landed among the people that had been waiting for him. His family was shivering with excitement and happiness, the scales around their cheeks pulsating with colours of excitement. He had done it.

\---

Anderson rested his head against his left hand, exhaustion tainting the periphery of his vision. As he noticed his eyes falling shut, he lifted his head and shook it wildly. It did not help to drive out the exhaustion. Anderson decided to get up and make another cup of coffee from ingredients in his ration package. He had already used the maxim amount of energy boosters, but there was no way he would allow himself to fall asleep before Ya’MogH would return. She was patrolling the city, while Anderson was holding guard at their base in a vacant building at the edge of the city. B.J. and McCoy were at the other side of the city, doing the same thing.

A full day of eavesdropping with the transponder back in the shuttle had come to nothing, and Anderson had decided that they would have to go into the city. They had split in two groups as to cover more ground, and every few hours one of the separate teams would set out on patrol, hoping to find out anything about the whereabouts of Neriouix. So far, the team had had no results, and Anderson was wondering of Neriouix were even in the city.

No, he could not allow himself to think that way. They were going to find Neriouix, no matter what. Anderson was just worried. His friend had now been mission for days, and on top of that Ya’MogH should have returned from her patrol two hours ago. They had decided to keep radio silence when on patrol, to lower the chances of their discover. Anderson had no idea where the Chief Engineer was an whether she was in danger. He was torn between staying here and watching over their equipment, or going into the city himself to find his officer. Maybe he should bring his supplies to B.J. and McCoy. But if he left and Ya’MogH _did_ return, she would not know where he was and they would be even worse off.

Anderson decided he would stay, but he also realised he would be no use if he did not get some sleep. He would just have to hope that no one would find his hideout.

\---

B.J sat on his knees, hidden in the shadows of a narrow alley. His ears were pointed upward as to be able to catch as much of the conversation near him as he could. His hand rested on his phaser, just in case.

The Chief of Security pulled his cloak a little tighter around his head, making sure that his face fell in its shadow. He had to be very careful. A soft pink, brown or grey skin might not be _that_ noticeable between light blue skinned humanoids, but _his_ pink fur was sure to stand out.

“…why they are doing that. Something is on the rise.”

B.J. pulled his attention back toward the conversation he was eavesdropping on.

“Mine have been acting all worked up lately as well. Would they know?”

The Lepori was listening to a conversation between two male Pulusi’Po, who were standing in the door opening of a house in the outer region of the city. The last sentence caught B.J.’s attention.

“How could they? I only heard it today.” The man closest to the door scratched his head.

“Well, I found out in the office yesterday. We have some there, too, they probably heard.”

“Mine haven’t been in contact with anyone, though.”

The second Pulusi’Po wiggled his fingers. “Have you read those articles? They say they might have telepathic abilities. Maybe they communicated that way.”

“You think?”

The man closest to the street wiggled his fingers once again. “It would explain a lot.”

The other man bit his lip. “I hope the government can find a solution to that. Telepathic slaves, can you imagine? That would cause quite a stirrup.”

B.J. drew a breath. _Slaves?_ If Fujita knew that… there was no way the Federation would go in business with a slave holding society. How had no one known this?

But it was not important now. Something was going on in the city. Something with the slaves, would they be rising up against their captors? B.J. had not seen any slaves, so he had no idea what kind of people they would be and in what kind of conditions they would be living.

After a quick greeting, the two man started moving. One of them walking into his home, closing his door behind him. The other picked up his bags and started to make his way down the road. Slowly, B.J. came out of his hiding place to follow that second man. He made sure to stay in the shadows, ducking behind plants and walls, moving with the shadows of the clouds and masking his footsteps. He was a heavily build man, as was usual for his species, but years of intensive practice had taught the Lepori how to walk without being seen, and he was better at it than most of the people he knew.

The man continued down the road for a few minutes. Then he took a turn to the left and entered a bigger and more crowded street. B.J. assumed the road would lead to the centre of the city. The streat was more heavily illuminated as well, and B.J. was aware that he would not be able to hide as well here. Therefor, he decided it was best to come out of hiding and pretend to belong there. He kept his covering clothes strapped around him, however, and made sure not to walk in the centre of the road.

B.J. watched as the looks of the city changed the closer to the centre he got. The houses got bigger, higher, but greyer too. Plants started to disappear, and although the street gut busier, the people looked grimmer in the moonlight. The Lepori was well aware that it was dangerous to be so far removed from his and McCoy’s hideout, he had no way to contact the Doctor to inform him of his location, and the further he got the longer his walk back would be, too. But B.J. knew he had to follow the lead he had gotten.

And that lead was still walking a few tens of meters in front of him, past the tall buildings and ignoring the other late night visitors on the street. The two of them had been following this street for half an hour, and B.J. suspected they had to be near the centre by now. His suspicion was proven right when the streets became brighter and the Pulusi’Po crossed the road to enter a smaller road on the right of the street, after which he knocked on a door at the beginning of the road. B.J. followed him and sank down on his knees behind a small container, blocked by the object from the ma’s vision, and by the shadows from the lurking eyes in the crowd.

An answer to the Pulusi’Po’s knock came after a few minutes. A small panel at the top of the door slid away, and after a few seconds the door opened. The Pulusi’Po walked in.

 _By the gods_. B.J. had just lost his lead. But he was not about to let that happen without a fight. He took the bag he had been carrying off his shoulder and lay it on the ground. From the bag, the security officer retrieved a device that Anderson had designed. It had been inspired by an old fashioned stethoscope, and the lock-picking variant. One had to put a small chip in the ear, and place a round computer against the wall of the building you wanted to eavesdrop into. The computer would collect any sounds within a set distance, and transfer them to the ear piece for the user to hear. B.J. connected the device and placed it against the wall.

At first, he heard nothing. B.J. played around with the settings a little until he picked up on some noise. After implementing some unscrambling programs, he could make out what was being said somewhere inside the building.

“She’s here.”

As B.J. turned up the volume of the ear piece, he suddenly felt a cold hand on his shoulder.

“What do you think you are doing?”

\---

“They’ve accepted!”

Fujita entered the observation lounge to see a very happy Ochiovik. “They did?”

“They just… walked onto the bridge and demanded to speak to me. I wanted to call you first, but they didn’t let me. Sorry for that.”

Fujita shook her head in disbelieve. “That’s okay.”

Ochiovik continued at the same pace. “They just walked in here and said they accepted the deal.”

The previous day, Pulusi’Po had given the impression that they were interested in the deal, yet Fujita had expected them to decline. This was good news, great news actually. She and her crew might just have made the first step toward a peaceful relation with this people. Which was really some sort of miracle on its own.

“That’s good,” Fujita said, “that’s amazing. I communicated the current proposition to Starfleet Command, they say it’s okay. That means we can close the deal.”

Ochiovik nodded. “Should I call the Pulusi’Po back?”

Full of excitement, the Betazoid was already rising from her chair, but Fujita raised her hand. “Slow down, commander,” she said with a smile. “Everything at its time. There’s no need to do it right this moment. We’ll wait until the first session starts.”

“About that, what is the next point we’ll be discussing?”

Fujita pursed her lips. “Starfleet doesn’t want us to make any other arrangements until we are sure the trading deal will go alright. They want to give it a few months at least.”

Ochiovik frowned. “Why? IF thigs are going well now, why not continue instead of risking other setbacks?”

“Well,” Fujita answered, “I don’t think they are wrong. We’ve noticed how uncooperative the Pulusi’Po can be. That they agreed now, doesn’t mean they’ll stay cooperative for an extended period of time of that they’ll agree to anything else. We have to be careful and make sure not to push too much too soon. If this works out well, then we can try arranging something else. For now, let’s just take it one step at a time.”

“That seems fair.”

As Fujita and Ochiovik finished their conversation, the door of the observation lounge suddenly rushed open. Both officers promptly turned toward the door to see who was entering.

Through the door rushed Beliaricus, the leader of the Pulusi’Po. From what Fujita had learned about Pulusi’Po body language in the short time she had known them, Beliaricus looked angry. He raised his two hands and pointed them toward Fujita. “You!”

“I’m sorry, is something wrong?” Fujita tried not to sound concerned, but in reality she felt confusion rise in her.

“You defiled our ground!”

Because of that sentence, Fujita understood what this was about, and fear grippled her heart. “I’m sorry, Beliaricus, I think you misunderstood–”

“My men and I will be leaving immediately. This relationship cannot be allowed to continue.” Beliaricus wiggled his hands angrily and turned around.

“Wait!” Fujita walked around the table and followed the Pulusi’Po. She could not let this happen. She had made a mistake by sending her men down to Soterras. She had been stupid, and she was damned if she let it ruin this deal with the Pulusi’Po.

Without turning around, Beliaricus answered Fujita. “Your officers cannot be allowed to walk our grounds any longer.

“That’s okay,” Fujita said, almost pleading. Sometimes it was better to show weakness than strength. “Hand them over to us and I’ll deal with them myself.”

“No. They will have to be terminated.”

“What?”

“The ground of the gods is holy. No defilation is allowed to walk on it, but none are allowed to seize to touch it. Your men will be terminated and forced into the ground to become one with the gods and be cleansed of their sins.”

“ _What?_ ” Fujita put a step forward and hit the table in with a clenched fist. The time for weakness was over. “I will not allow you to kill my men.”

“They will–”

“No!” Fujita had now gotten so close to the Pulusi’Po that she could feel his breath on her face. She was a slight bit taller than the man, which was in her advantage as she looked down on him. Her eyes burned with anger and she felt her muscles clench together, ready for action. No one would be touching her friends. The Admiral raised her hand and grabbed Beliaricus’ collar. Her voice dropped a few tones as she said: “No one will touch my crew, or I will personally make sure that they don’t.”

Beliaricus tried to get out of Fujita’s grip, but he stopped struggling as he noticed it was to no prevail. Fujita had turned into a woman of iron. She lifted the Pulusi’Po off the ground. His eyes went big as his feet lost their grip, and he grabbed Fujita’s hands for support. They stayed like that for minutes, Beliaricus searching for words but not finding any, Fujita burning with anger.

After a while, the doors to the observation lounge slid open and an agitated Ochiovik entered. She let out a startled yell as she saw the scenario inside, and Fujita promptly let go of the blue skinned man in her arms. Not having seen this coming, Beliaricus had no time to prepare his legs for the decent and the man fell onto the ground with a loud _thud_. He yelped in pain, and scrambled against the wall. The poor man was shaking all over his body.

“Captain! What the–”

Fujita whipped off her hands to her trousers and looked at her counsellor, her face still just as stern as it had been a minute before. Ochiovik took Fujita by the arm and – carefully – led her away from the shivering alien.

“What _happened_?”

Fujita pursed her lips, reminding Ochiovik at the same time of a stubborn kitten and a – very, very – dangerous wild cat. “He threatened to kill them.”

“What?”

“Anderson, B.J., Ya’MogH and McCoy have been discovered, and he threatened to kill them.”

Ochiovik turned toward Beliaricus and back, het mouth slightly opened. “That’s not good.” As the full impact of Fujita’s words hit her, her eyes widened. “That’s not good at all.”

“No it’s not, so I’m going down there.”

“ _What_? No, you can’t do that!”

Fujita shrugged, unwilling to listen to her counsellor. “Someone has to save them.”

“Fujita!” Ochiovik sighed and sat down at the long table, facing her captain while she made sure she could hear the Pulusi’Po behind her back. “I can’t let you go down there. We can send another rescue team–”

“No.”

“–or we can try to talk to the Pulusi’Po–”

Fujita tilted her head with an insincere lopsided grin. “It might be a little too late for that.”

The Betazoid looked her captain sternly in the eye and gestured for her to sit down. Miraculously, the woman listened. “We’ll find a way, but I cannot allow you to go down to that planet. Without most of the other senior officers, we need you here. You simply can’t leave our ship unattended. And you’ll get yourself killed down there.”

“You can captain the _Starlight_ until I’m back. And I’m among the best fighters in the entire Starfleet, you know that. I’ll finish them.”

“ _Fujita_! I won’t let you, don’t you get that? You might be the captain, but _I_ am the counsellor, and if you decide to go down there, I _will_ declare you unfit for service until you get to your senses.”

Fujita bolted up from her chair. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own choices. I’m getting my crew back, and I don’t need your permission. Go ahead and declare me unfit, it won’t stop me.” Fujita started to make her way toward the door of the observation lounge. As she walked passed Beliaricus, who was still pressed against the room’s wall, she looked at him with content. Then she reached the doors, and as they slid open, she said: “Please clean up the mess, will you.”


End file.
